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Opinion
We’ve seen the major concerns regarding young Will Pucovski who just seems destined to be a lost talent. It appears he is unable to get any momentum to kick start what should be a fine career.
However – at the other end of the career spectrum – we have Steve Smith who arguably is teetering on the edge after his third career cricket concussion during the just completed T20I series against Sri Lanka.
The Steve Smith story was never more pressing than during the 2019 Ashes series in England. We all know the heroics and peak personal performance.
The 144 and 142 back-to-back tons in the Birmingham test; and then to Lords – and the sickening blow that arguably should have ended his innings and Test then; but he attempted to carry on only to fall almost immediately after for 92.
Missing the third test; Smith resumed at Manchester with a masterful 211 and 82 and finished off the series with 80 and 23 at The Oval. 774 runs at 110.6 was as good as it gets.
However – that was September 2019. Since then, Smith has played 14 Test matches and batted 23 times (including a 1 not out in Adelaide, Dec 2020). In all that time he’s managed just barely more runs with 811 at a modest average of 36.9.
Smith has scored just a single century and 6 half centuries in that time.
Of note is that all 14 Tests have been home Test matches. Of interest is that 365 of those runs have come at his home track at the SCG; from just five hits. So a home town average of 73 (1 century and 3 fifties); leaves a paltry 446 at 26.2 across the other Australian venues.
Perhaps an unfair comparison is the 23 hits prior – spanning 2017-2019; produced 1714 runs at 81.6; including six centuries. That was clearly the pinnacle of SPD Smith. Even so – the 23 hits before that produced 1317 at 65.9 with six centuries.
We do know that Smith has an unusual technique. It’s far from classical and his unorthodox approach arguably relies on a brilliant eye.
What can’t be ignored however is that his output has dropped away. Granted a shaky start against India the previous summer was followed by a robust return to form; at the SCG and a reasonable effort at the Gabba. This most recent summer saw just two scores over 30 from eight hits.
The possible impact of concussion can’t be ignored. It wasn’t only the knock at Lords; he subsequently received another knock in the Old Trafford nets in 2020 and missed the entire ODI series.
This most recent knock – while attempting some T20 boundary rope heroics makes it three.
All good things come to an end and as Smith approaches the age of 33 – the question is whether he can rescale the lofty heights or whether he is teetering on the edge of a career precipice.
The March tour of Pakistan might be too soon to call stumps on his test career; however – it might be time to very much lower our expectations. And arguably – it might be appropriate to lessen the workload; as there have been many questions asked in recent days over the place of Smith in international T20 cricket mainly around statistical output but arguably as well as exposure to risk.
Does he need to and if so how does Steve Smith adapt his game to continue on at the highest level?
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